When Will Power set out on the egg-shaped oval of World Wide Technology Raceway for qualifying, he had the chance to tie the all-time IndyCar pole record. And he did so with a lot of room to spare.
As this event is the final oval race of the season, qualifications were held with a single-attempt format with only one chance to put in the fastest two laps possible.
Power was the final driver to hit the track, and he was also the quickest. He completed two laps that averaged 182.727 MPH, blistering his closest competitor Marcus Ericsson by over 0.65 MPH.
The veteran said he was shaking after taking the pole, and was very humble about his accomplishment of tying the great Mario Andretti. Both drivers now hold 67 poles, and can claim that no other driver has more.
Overall, it was a Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing show of force all afternoon. The top six positions were all occupied by the powerhouse teams.
Pato O’Ward was the first driver from another team on the timesheets, placing his Arrow McLaren SP Chevy seventh after making his run with more downforce than necessary.
Andretti Autosport surprised with an impressive showing, putting all four drivers in the top half of the field once all drivers had completed their runs.
The team struggled to find pace in the recent races at Iowa Speedway, but the extra length and smoother track at Gateway helped to allow all of its drivers to set laps that will allow them to be competitive in Saturday’s race.
An engine change penalty will drop Grosjean down nine places from where he qualified, however, adding a bit of extra work for the Frenchman.
Felix Rosenqvist had the wildest ride of the afternoon, as the Swedish driver washed high and lost control coming out of turn 2. He was able to deftly keep his car away from the outside concrete wall, but still slid down the back stretch before coming to a stop against the inside tire barrier.
He saved his Arrow McLaren SP crew a lot of work, but will still have to start from the back of the field after not setting a time in the session.
Jimmie Johnson improved a bit from his dismal practice effort, and will start the race from the 11th row alongside Callum Ilott.
Drivers will have one more practice session this evening, which includes some time dedicated to running in the higher groove to promote side by side racing on Saturday. The 260-lap race will be run at 5:30 PM Central Time.
| # | Driver | Total Time | Avg. Speed (MPH) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Will Power | 00:49.2539 | 182.727 |
| 2 | Marcus Ericsson | 00:49.4316 | 182.070 |
| 3 | Josef Newgarden | 00:49.5515 | 181.629 |
| 4 | Scott McLaughlin | 00:49.6126 | 181.406 |
| 5 | Alex Palou | 00:49.6446 | 181.289 |
| 6 | Scott Dixon | 00:49.7364 | 180.954 |
| 7 | Pato O’Ward | 00:49.9160 | 180.303 |
| 8 | Takuma Sato | 00:49.9866 | 180.048 |
| 9 | Romain Grosjean | 00:50.0209 | 179.925 |
| 10 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 00:50.1305 | 179.531 |
| 11 | Alexander Rossi | 00:50.1617 | 179.420 |
| 12 | Colton Herta | 00:50.1820 | 179.347 |
| 13 | David Malukas | 00:50.2347 | 179.159 |
| 14 | Simon Pagenaud | 00:50.3418 | 178.778 |
| 15 | Jack Harvey | 00:50.3426 | 178.775 |
| 16 | Conor Daly | 00:50.3710 | 178.674 |
| 17 | Graham Rahal | 00:50.3760 | 178.657 |
| 18 | Helio Castroneves | 00:50.4608 | 178.356 |
| 19 | Christian Lundgaard | 00:50.5151 | 178.165 |
| 20 | Kyle Kirkwood | 00:50.5395 | 178.079 |
| 21 | Jimmie Johnson | 00:51.0296 | 176.368 |
| 22 | Callum Ilott | 00:51.0829 | 176.184 |
| 23 | Rinus VeeKay | 00:51.1349 | 176.005 |
| 24 | Dalton Kellett | 00:51.7532 | 173.902 |
| 25 | Ed Carpenter | 00:51.8232 | 173.667 |
| 26 | Felix Rosenqvist | No Time | – |
